Olstein Capital Management L.P. Has $6.45 Million Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Olstein Capital Management L.P. decreased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 20.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 192,000 shares of the airline's stock after selling 48,000 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $6,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,308,146,000 after acquiring an additional 426,878 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,108,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896,150 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline's stock worth $475,092,000 after purchasing an additional 320,421 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline's stock valued at $205,476,000 after purchasing an additional 372,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 66.0% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline's stock valued at $202,219,000 after buying an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock traded down $0.95 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $32.54. The stock had a trading volume of 10,414,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,136,910. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.54 billion, a PE ratio of 45.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The company's revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.36) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is currently 84.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Melius Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.88.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director David P. Hess bought 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at $614,097.12. This trade represents a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 14,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at $406,102.49. This represents a 32.74% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 11,670 shares of company stock worth $314,794. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southwest Airlines Profile

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.